The Doll
by Hemoptysis
Summary: Little Elizabeth had always wanted a doll of her very own... and, as her winged guardian knows very well, whatever Elizabeth wants, Elizabeth gets. A fairly brief and cutesy one-shot, nothing particularly bad here.


_First time ever posting something BioShock-related! I just can't help but think of the Songbird as this big, adorable fatherly figure towards Elizabeth. Bumbling, but meaning well. No wonder the idea for this cutesy little fanfic just seemed to come so easily to me. Hahaha._

_(Since the game itself won't actually be released for another few months, I would like to note that any descriptions and settings to appear in this story are based purely on speculation, for fanfic-writing's sake.)_

_- Hemoptysis_

_I do not own the BioShock series or any of its characters. Obviously._

oOo

**The Doll**

Though the sky was becoming bright with the rich variety of oranges, pinks, and purples that typically announced the arrival of yet another early morning, most of the gigantic floating city of Columbia was still wrapped in shadow. Several of its residents had only just begun to stir; many of those were shopkeepers, waking up good and early to open up their stores to the soon-to-be-awakening public. Even though they'd flip the little signs hanging up on their doors to read "Open", it wasn't at all unusual for the shopkeepers to keep the doors locked up tight - to anybody who didn't actually _live_ there, Columbia may _look _like a glorious marvel of ingenuity, with its many grandiose buildings supported only by massive hot-air balloons, bedecked with countless American flags in an almost overzealous display of the patriotic ideal… but in reality it was a city of mounting tension. Recently, rifts between rival factions of drastically differentiating political mindsets had been widening, ever so slightly at a time, like a couple of tectonic plates in constant danger of collision. It'd led to an increase in street violence among the members of the two groups, and they weren't shy about dragging bystanders into their fighting; thus, it wasn't unusual to see the streets quiet and deserted out of fear at some shadier points of the day such as this. Not many were willing to run the risk of being shot at – save for one. The sole inhabitant of this great city in the sky that the two rival groups feared to engage, and for good reason. It's not as though it was _human_, after all.

This resident was currently making its way around the very outskirts of the city, on the east side. On some mornings, when the weather was clear and most of Columbia's citizens were still inside their homes, it liked to come to this more deserted section and watch the sun rise until it was time to go and wake up its young charge. It'd learned that this was the best time of day to move about in the open; no people around to panic at the sight of it, and draw too much attention… attention led to trouble from bad people. It blinked a cracked optical lens – a product of such a battle.

They called it the "Songbird" – a strangely out-of-place title when you considered the fact that it was being used for a hulking winged creature built of thick leather and steel and easily the height of a small building. It moved with an almost organic fluency, its massive footsteps making the ground beneath it shudder as it wandered back in the direction of the city… one could believe that this was indeed a being of flesh and blood, not one that was mechanical in nature.

It lifted its bird-like head and turned to eye the sun again as it walked. It'd since climbed higher in the sky, its warming rays just beginning to spill over the outer edges of the city and onto the fronts of the buildings. The oranges, pinks, and purples were disappearing, being quickly replaced by a clear blue. Songbird made a pleased and surprisingly high-pitched little tweeting sound; Elizabeth would be awake soon. Elizabeth – the one and only reason for its creation in the first place, not that it really knew that itself. She was a very special little girl, in more ways than met the eye... in mysterious ways. Ways that required the very best protection that could be had, for her own safety. Songbird _was_ that protection. The only thing it needed to know was how to keep Elizabeth safe and happy; that's all it'd _ever _need to know. And know that it did. Songbird loved its little Elizabeth dearly, as if she were its very own daughter, and she loved it, too… the only friend-like figure the small six-year-old had ever known. And it fully intended to preserve that status for life. That's what it was driven to do. _Created _to do.

Songbird made another light tweeting sound, the slight jerkiness to the movements of its head and powerful limbs the only hints at its robotic construction. Thinking about getting to spend time with Elizabeth again always made it feel happy – or, at least, some kind of equivalence to "happy". The light shining from its two rounded glass "eyes" flickered to green as it pictured her round, smiling face, her big blue eyes, her short brown hair. It allowed itself to get so caught up in its own "thoughts" that it'd barely noticed it'd reached the shops on the outermost edge of the city. Usually it wouldn't allow itself to get this close; people would be out and about soon, and being the most widely-feared creature in Columbia had never done wonders for Songbird's interactions with the public. The wear-and-tear from many a bullet was evidence enough of that.

It paused at the edge of the grass, where it met the street. It found itself facing a row of quaint little shops, recently opened for the day and thankfully still deserted. Songbird hooted quietly; yes, it'd come much too close for comfort… there'd be big trouble if it was seen here, by civilians _or _the shopkeepers, and besides, Elizabeth would be awake and wondering where her guardian was soon. It hunched over, the great, mechanical wings upon its back unfurling themselves with a rusty creak like the sails of some old ship. It'd take a running leap from the edge of the platform, ride an updraft up into the sky above the city, gliding on the air currents like a gigantic bird until it reached the lofty building that served as Elizabeth's home.

Songbird was turning away from the shops to go back, when it suddenly paused – _something _in the shop window directly across from it had caught its eye. It cocked its head jerkily to the side, examining the storefront curiously; it was a toy shop, fairly new-looking. It had a large glass window next to the door, showcasing a colorful display of various toys and games.

Despite its better judgment, Songbird began to slowly approach the window, a glass eye still fixed on the goods behind it. Or, rather, a particular few of them. There, at the very front of the arrangement, nestled in between a bunch of teddy bears and a rocking horse – a small collection of porcelain dolls, very well-crafted, each wearing their own frilly little dress and bow.

The sight of the dolls stirred something in Songbird's recent memory, back to a moment from a week or two ago… it involved Elizabeth, of course. It'd happened when it'd gone to visit her one morning…

"_Look, Songbird, look! Look at this!" Elizabeth said excitedly, running over to her towering guardian. Songbird tweeted softly, looking down at her from where it sat in the middle of her enormous bedroom, specially built so that it could easily accommodate its great size. She was smiling widely, carrying an open storybook in her arms. She set it down carefully on its knee as she pulled herself up into its lap, holding it open so that it could see it better._

"_See? Right here!" she said, pointing to something on one of the pages. Songbird leaned forward cocking its head to see better, the cogs jutting out of its neck clicking and whirring; she was pointing to a picture of a little girl… or, actually, what the little girl was holding. It was a doll, all dressed up, with long, flowing locks of blonde hair._

_Elizabeth looked up at it, her blue eyes aglow. "Look at how PRETTY that doll is, Songbird! Isn't she just the prettiest doll you've ever seen EVER?" She looked back down at the picture, and her face suddenly fell a bit. She sighed longingly, running a finger around the image of the doll. "I wish I could have a doll like that…"_

_She sounded so put-out that it concerned her winged friend. Songbird's glass eyes flickered a dull yellow, and it made a comforting, almost musical-sounding hoot, nuzzling its "snout" against her small cheek with a gentleness surprising for its massive size. She giggled, successfully distracted from her thoughts about the doll. She closed the storybook and set it aside, hugging onto Songbird's large head just as a daughter might hug her father._

"_C'mon, Songbird! Let's go draw some pictures!" she chirped, grabbing onto one of its thick fingers and pulling it along towards the paper and crayons scattered across the carpet. All disappointment from the doll earlier had apparently been swiftly forgotten. Songbird tweeted happily, allowing itself to be led by the young girl, pleased simply to be in her presence._

Songbird was standing right in front of the window now, plain as day, its attention still fixed on the dolls behind the store window. It was too busy thinking about Elizabeth to care… thinking about Elizabeth and the doll from the weeks before, and how happy one of these dolls would make her. Its eyes flashed a cheerful green as it imagined the look of surprised joy in her eyes, the smile on her face as it presented her with the gift. The prospect was just too much for an eager-to-please guardian to ignore. It just _had _to get its hands on one of these before it went to visit Elizabeth. Her happiness came first. _Always_.

There was somebody in the back of the store… it could see them, sitting on a stool behind the counter, their face completely hidden behind the morning's newspaper. Probably the shopkeeper… didn't even notice the enormous mechanical monster at the window. Not that Songbird cared. It only cared about getting at one of those little dolls… and it wasn't like an inch of glass was about to stop it.

It reached out one hand, resting it against the window, and began to push. After a couple of moments, the glass began to bend underneath the great pressure, thick cracks spider-webbing outwards from beneath its fingertips. Barely a few seconds later, it shattered, spraying the interior of the shop and its merchandise with shards of broken glass. The shopkeeper shrieked, nearly falling backwards off of his stool. He threw down the paper and, upon seeing the hulking figure crouched outside, went deathly pale, turning and racing into the back room and slamming the door behind him. He'd had a feeling that the shotgun he kept behind the counter for emergency purposes wouldn't really help much in this situation.

Songbird barely paid the frightened shopkeeper any attention; it only wanted a doll and nothing else. It tweeted with joy, slowly reaching down to grab one of the dolls between its great thumb and forefinger. However, it misjudged its own strength; the doll's tiny porcelain head cracked and broke apart between them in a mess of jagged shards and false hair. It grunted, dropping the now-ruined doll back into the display, and reached for another. Again, Songbird was just a _little_ too rough… the second doll quickly wound up headless, too.

Songbird made a low hooting sound, its porthole-like eyes dimming to a dull orange. It was starting to get annoyed with the fragility of these silly children's toys… it had to hurry, or the people with their guns and other weapons would show up and attack it (as bad an idea as that was). Making sure to be _very _careful, it gingerly picked up a third doll, this time by the body and not the head. Thankfully, it stayed in one piece, and it dropped the doll into its wide palm, enclosing its fingers around it. Songbird's eyes flickered back to green, happy with its success. Elizabeth would be _very _pleased!

It turned and bounded away back the way it'd come, surprisingly fast for such an ungainly-looking creature. It reached the edge of the edge of the grassy platform that helped to support several buildings and jumped, straight out into blue nothingness. It fell a short distance before the wide wings attached to its back snapped open, catching an updraft like a parachute. Songbird soared upward on the current of air, quick and graceful, following it up and away into the clouds drifting lazily about the tops of the tallest Columbian buildings, hidden from sight.

It couldn't keep Elizabeth waiting.

oOo

Elizabeth sat up in bed, blinking and rubbing the tiredness out of her eyes. Her expanse of a bedroom was fully illuminated by bright sunlight shining in through the thin curtains; another bright and beautiful day, as usual. She looked around, stifling a yawn… that was strange. Songbird was usually there by no-

A massive shape suddenly swooped up, blotting out the sunlight streaming in through the two huge windows that formed a section of the wall on the opposite side of the room. The shadows of two wide, broad wings seemed to encompass almost the entire outer perimeter of the room as the shape clung to the side of the tower, making a loud, shrieking trill of a sound to be let in. Elizabeth's face lit up with a smile. There it was!

She swung herself out of bed and pattered over to the big windows, quickly unlocking the latch that held them closed. The outside breeze immediately pushed them open even more, whooshing around her room and making the curtains as well as her nightgown and several drawings pinned to her walls flutter. There was her devoted guardian, hanging from the rooftop by one arm, cheerfully hooting and tweeting down at its young friend.

"Songbird!" Elizabeth cried, clapping her hands together with delight. It folded its wings back tightly with a mechanical click, ducking to fit itself inside. It sat down in the middle of the carpet, one hand closed up in a big fist, like it was holding onto something…

She walked over, peering curiously at her friend's closed hand. "What's that you've got there, Songbird…?"

It blinked its cracked right eye-lens and hooted, lowering its hand and opening it for her to see. She gasped, and couldn't help but let out a squeal of pure joy, the look of excitement plastered across her face enough to fill Songbird with an innate sense of pride and accomplishment (or something as close to those emotions as it was possible for such a creature to feel, at least).

"You brought me a _doll_?" she squealed, positively bouncing up and down with happiness. She grabbed it and held it up to examine. It was all dressed up in a pretty blue-and-white lace dress, matching the blue of the glass eyes. Its rounded porcelain face was framed by a headful of curly blonde locks, topped by a blue bow. "Oh, she's so _pretty_! She looks _just _like the one from the storybook! Thank you so much, Songbird! Thank you!"

She grabbed onto Songbird's belly in a big hug, her arms nowhere near long enough to even reach its sides. Its eyes glowed a vivid green; it was so glad to see Elizabeth so overjoyed, and know that it was because of something _it _did for her. Songbird felt something similar to an immense satisfaction with itself… Elizabeth was happy, safe, well cared for… it was a good guardian. A very, _very _good guardian. And it always would be.

It continued to sit there and hum a leisurely little birdsong as Elizabeth pulled herself up onto its knee, and watched as she busied herself with brushing the doll's hair. Both were lost in their own little sunlit world, two best friends enjoying each other's company, blissfully unaware of the situation Songbird had left behind back at the toy shop (a now-windowless store and a half-hysterical shopkeeper blubbering on about a "giant bird monster" to any confused passerby that came within earshot). Not that it mattered to it, of course.

Because Elizabeth was happy. And to Songbird, what else could possibly ever mean _more_?

oOo

_Not my best work, surely, but the idea of writing out Songbird doing a little interaction with a young Elizabeth was simply irresistible to me, so I had to do it, a rush-job though it may be. Reviews are always welcomed!_


End file.
